The Fall of Professor Arc
by College Fool
Summary: Ever wonder what the fall of Beacon's favorite fraudulent student-teacher would look like? Professor Jaune Arc knew it would be Yang's fault somehow... though he'd forget why soon enough. A gift-fic to Coeur Al'Alran and his story 'Professor Arc.'
1. Chapter 1

The Fall of Professor Arc

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Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

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 _Somehow this is Yang's fault._

He's not sure how, but she's definitely there and he's falling because of her and he always knew she was trouble. This just proves it.

Those are the first of Professor Arc's last thoughts as he falls. Plummets. Descends with haste. Whatever the poetic term for 'knocked off Amity Colosseum' is.

Why is he falling? He's not sure- the tournament hasn't even started yet. Now it may never get off the ground- literally. Images of his dishonest life, and even more dishonest tenure, flash before his eyes. Rumours of the White Fang intended sabotage. Blake reading the report off his desk. Blake swearing not to pursue the matter, and then obviously doing just that with the rest of her friends. Team RWBY somehow finding the nefarious activity that the adults should have caught.

Ah, that's where Yang came in. It's Team RWBY's fault, but he'll blame Yang. Weiss may be a closet pervert, but she's a good enough girl, and Ruby and Blake are too innocent to blame. So it's Yang's fault, even before he pushed her out of the way of the shockwave. At least he'll die having gotten one good feel.

Cause he's probably going to die now regardless, even if she looks too terrified to be angry. They all do. All the girls, and all the women, and everyone else who got caught up in these shenanigans. Just slightly too far above he sees Glynda falling towards him- not from the shockwave, but from leaping into a landing strategy in pursuit of him. She's getting closer, but only close enough that he can see her fearful expression- he's too far to firmly reach, even for her semblance.

That's a shame. It's been a good ride, this whole teacher deal. Terrifying, painful, and hopelessly out of his depth, but a good ride none the less. Despite his mistakes- and his lies- and his being a generally unqualified fraud- he can take pride in having helped some people in some small ways. In knowing that he was as (in)competent as some of the most respected teachers in Remnant. That people far more capable than he trusted, respected, even looked up to him. Gave him more credence than he deserved.

Team RWBY. Glynda and the faculty. Even Winter and Cinder- and how he fooled them, he still doesn't know.

Not Neo and Roman though. They knew the truth, and more than that they were pricks. Good riddance to them.

But everyone else? He'd miss them.

At least they never found out that he was a fraud. And now they never would. As the cloud of the dust explosion continued to rise, he almost felt warm and fuzzy inside.

It was a good last thought for Professor Arc before the flash, the impact, and the darkness swallowed everything else.

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Author Note:

The start of a gift-fic from me to Coeur over the Holidays. Coeur liked it enough that he pushed me to post.

More to follow, in the usual post-a-day style.


	2. Chapter 2

The Fall of Professor Arc

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Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

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Jaune woke up in an unfamiliar bed, under an unfamiliar ceiling, with an unfamiliar pair of breasts leaning against him. Which is to say there was a female using his body as a makeshift pillow. Blonde hair, but not the sort in his family.

Jaune bolted awake up so fast he suffered whiplash- and thus a minor concussion.

Jaune hissed in pain as he gripped his head. The sleeper didn't seem to mind- or at least was composing herself and rubbing sleep out of her eye- until she looked at Jaune and a smile lit across her face.

"Jaune!" she exclaimed. "You're awake!" An impulsive hug followed, and Jaune was frozen. What was he supposed to do? What could he do? Preferably without being killed? A hand came up and froze behind her back, unsure of whether to pull her closer or not.

A rush of feet approached. The door to this private room was thrown open, and Jaune was glad that he hadn't pulled her closer because she very quickly adopted a prim and proper decorum before the door finished opening.

"Glynda!" The new arrival, a female canine faunus with brown dog-like ears, and dressed in a medical uniform to boot, called. "Is he-?" she began, even as she saw Jaune was, indeed, up.

"He is indeed, Kitsune-chan," Glynda answered, unable to hide a hint of relief in her voice. "I told you he would be fine."

Kitsune-chan snorted, but turned her attention to Jaune. "How are you feeling, Mr. Arc?" She asked. "Your body should be fine, but is there anything that still hurts?"

Jaune hid a wince and managed a smile. "Just my head, but everything else is fine. Thanks, Kitsune," he said politely.

She looked at him oddly. "Maybe I should take a closer look-" she began, and Jaune only smiled more for the kind doctor.

She didn't have a chance to say anything more as the door flew open, sending her stumbling. Through it came… no one, because four separate someone's were stuck in the attempt. Red, White, Yellow, Black… a mix-match of colours as four young girls tried to force their way through. Failing that, they fell to the ground.

None of them seemed to mind, as their faces went from on the floor to pointed at him, a spectrum of expressions of relief and… well, different sorts of relief as they saw him up and awake. As one, they all babbled incoherently.

"Jaune! I was so worried because I-"

"Professor Jaune! Are you alright? When we saw you-"

"Jaune! I swear I've kept up with your paperwork while you were out, it-"

"Teach, I am so sorry! I-"

The gaggle of girls let loose too many words to track, and Jaune was lost and confused. He looked to them, to Glynda, to Kitsune, and none of it made sense.

"I'm sorry," the sixteen-year-old boy began, "but who are all of you?"

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Author Note:

Dun dun du- aw, sod it. If it's not obvious yet, it will be blatantly clear tomorrow.

Spoiler alert- this is just over 17,000 words long (not including author notes/disclaimers). One of the reasons Coeur asked me to post this, rather than have it as a special update in the actual Professor Arc fic, was it's just too darn long for a single chapter. So... short chapters, post a day, because I'm special like that.


	3. Chapter 3

The Fall of Professor Arc

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Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

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"Amnesia?"

"Amnesia," Kitsune-chan- no, Tsune- affirmed. "His semblance may have saved his life, but he still suffered a severe impact. Mixed with the various properties of the dust that exploded…" she shrugged. "He's lucky he only lost a few years of his life, rather than all of it."

"Jaune…" Glynda- not Miss Glynda, or Goodwitch, but just Glynda- whispered in sympathy, giving a reassuring hand. He didn't have the heart to say that it was anything but soothing at the moment- even if he had bigger concerns as he tried to grasp the situation.

"We were all lucky," Professor Ozpin said evenly, maturely sipping a mug of coffee. "We could all have lost a good friend and colleague in the line of duty. We should all be thankful we did not." He raised his mug to hide his face. "Shame he forgot about the twenty lien he owed me," he muttered.

"Did I?" Jaune asked, grabbing the wallet they had returned to him to show him his own ID. "Here, let me fix that now," he said, reaching in to grab an appropriate bill.

Professor Ozpin eagerly reached out to accept it, even as half the room shifted in their seats and opened their mouths, but a swift swing of a riding crop and a stern glare made all the men flinch.

"Never mind," Ozpin demurred. "You can keep it," he magnanimously said. "You have bigger concerns."

Least of which were the gaggle of girls still trying to eavesdrop. With an irate expression, Glynda waved Tsune off to go and shoo the girls of Team RWBY away.

"Never fear, lad," the portly Peter Port proclaimed as he pounded Jaune on the back. "We'll run down the rapscallions who did this in no time!"

Jaune smiled nervously at these… peers? Friends? Very Important People, to be sure- and from what he'd gathered, real, experienced Hunters. And he'd called these people colleagues?

"Um, excuse me," he began nervously, unsure if he had the right to speak in such august company, but no one stopped him. "How many years have I… lost?" he asked. "What year is it?"

"It's-" Doctor Oobleck began, but Tsune quickly shoved a hand in his face to pre-emptively stop him.

"Don't," Tsune said. "It's better to let him try to remember on his own." She turned to Jaune. "How old do you think you are? Try to remember- but let me know if it hurts," she said with an eager smile. " _Especially_ if it hurts," she said, with an even broader smile and wag of the tail. Such a nice doctor, concerned about his comfort like that.

Jaune tried to remember. "I just turned sixteen," he recalled. "My family gave me Crocea Mors for my birthday"- because Mom had probably forgot to get a real gift this year, but didn't want to admit it- "and I'm looking into applying to a combat academy." And hoping really, really hard they'd let him in with barely any- alright, no- skill to his name.

Port and Oobleck huddled together and whispered as he recounted.

"Sixteen?" Port silently counted to four on his fingers.

"That would have been before…" whispered Oobleck in awe.

"Tell me, Mr. Arc," Professor Ozpin said as he ignored the other two professors. "What school would you like to get into the most?"

"Beacon," Jaune said instantly and honestly. "I want to be hero, and I want- wanted?- to learn from the best teachers," he reasoned.

Glynda stirred. "Jaune," she said. "You never applied-" she began, but Ozpin raised a hand to cut her off.

"Now tell me this, Mr. Arc," Ozpin said, gazing at him with a steely gaze as hard as… steel? Metaphors were hard at the moment. Ozpin could be intimidating, and Jaune doubted the man ever stopped being serious and calculating. "What school do you think you would actually apply to?"

 _Any that would accept me._

"Probably not Beacon," Jaune admitted after giving it a bit of thought. Beacon was elite, exclusive- a fraud would stand out there like a sore thumb. Somewhere less ambitious would be more realistic- and less likely to look too hard at any faked transcripts. "Isn't there a good place in Vacuo?" he tried to recall the school he'd only briefly heard about and dismissed for some long-forgotten reason. "Vacuo Academy for… Special Children? Special Needs?" Embarrassing, yes, but training was training…

"The Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youth," Ozpin supplied, and sat back and watched.

The Vacuo Academy for Gifted Youth.

That name… meant something. Was familiar somehow. Was important somehow- but also trapped behind the impenetrable thing, the barrier in his head that he was realizing was his period of amnesia.

"Vacuo, Vacuo, Vacuo," Jaune repeated as he tried to reach in and grasp its significance. "Vacuo- that- agh!" he recoiled in a shock of mental pain as he tried to push into the deadspace of the years he didn't remember. "It was- it was- agh!" he cried again, louder.

"Jaune!" that was Glynda- at his side and shaking him. "Stop! You don't have to remember! Stop trying to remember!"

Jaune did as the pretty woman said, and the pain subsided as she held him close. He wasn't unaware of her proximity and his advantageous sight line, but his head really did hurt. "What happened at Vacuo?" he wanted, needed, to know.

"It was destroyed," Ozpin said simply. "Overrun by Grimm."

"Ozpin!" Glynda protested, turning her anger towards him.

But Ozpin's words had no effect on Jaune when he wasn't trying to recall. No flashbacks, no spasms of pain- just water rolling over rocks. "Was I there?" Jaune asked, a curious feeling of separation as he put together the dots.

"You were," Ozpin affirmed. "You had the best, and cruelest, teacher of all- experience."

"I don't remember," Jaune said honestly.

"That may be for the best," Ozpin admitted sadly. "Some things don't need to be remembered."

There was a period of silence as Jaune dwelled on it. It just… it didn't feel real. He couldn't believe it had happened- not to him. An entire education- disappeared. Gone. What was he supposed to do now?

"So… what happens to me now?" Jaune asked, wondering. "I mean, I still want to become a Huntsman. To be a Hero." For his family, for himself, and probably other people he'd forgotten about too.

It wasn't right! It wasn't fair! Somehow he- _he!-_ had managed to not only get into a combat school, but do well! He had not only survived but succeeded! Been a Huntsman in all but name! A dream, within his grasp, stolen away! How unfair was Remnant?

His disposition was noticed by the others. A big, heavy hand pounded him on the back.

"Cheer up, lad!" Peter encouraged. "You've already done it once, so what's another go around? Just knowing you've already succeeded means everything else is achievable!"

"Peter is right," Oobleck joined in. "Even if you don't remember it, you have already set an excellent example as an instructor. You can do so again," he was sure.

"I- we will teach you what you need to know, Jaune," Glynda assured. "Properly, this time. You'll be teaching alongside us before you know it."

"But how can I?" Jaune asked. "How good of a teacher could I possibly be after forgetting everything I knew?"

"I, for one, believe that some things can never be taught- and never be forgotten," Ozpin declared. "When you came to us, you told me you had no experience in teaching- but you none the less did an admirable job even so. I believe you can again in time, once you have your feet under you," Ozpin said. "When you have made up for lost time, we would be more than happy to count you amongst us once again," he promised.

"Will I be able to make it until then?" Jaune wondered. "I mean, support myself without a job?"

Ozpin blinked, as that hadn't occurred to him. "That is a good question," he admitted. "I'm honestly not too clear on our health insurance policies-"

"It will suffice," Glynda said simply.

"Will it?" Ozpin asked. "As I recall, there were all sorts of restrictions and stipulations that applied-"

"It will suffice," Glynda stressed ominously, flexing her crop by bending it almost in half.

"-but fortunately we have a very flexible health insurance policy, a great deal of autonomy in our school, and I am sure Glynda will ensure there are no problems," Ozpin finished hastily.

"Thank you, Glynda," Jaune said sincerely- still weirded out at addressing a woman so much his senior by her first name, but grateful none the less. She, he could already tell, was and would be a lifesaver.

"Of course," Glynda said modestly. "Our policies are meant for those who suffer in the line of duty, and I am sure no one would argue that you were not." Not twice, at least. Not in her hearing.

"Thank you," Jaune repeated, and noted a bit of red in her cheeks even as she made a pleased expression. So flattery- or at least simple gratitude- worked? Good to know. With that…

"If it's not too much ask… could I ask something else of you, Glynda?" Jaune began, trying to hit that right balance between familiar and formal.

"Certainly, Jaune," Glynda asked. "Anything."

"Can I count on you to make me a man again?" Jaune asked.

There was a sudden silence, and possibly a pin drop.

"A Huntsman, I mean?" he clarified, but a moment too late before the room reputed into chaos.

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	4. Chapter 4

The Fall of Professor Arc

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Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

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/

"You have a visitor, if you're ready," Tsune told him a few hours later after the cast was finished and the painkillers had set in.

Glynda had been very apologetic and promised to see him soon, and even if he hadn't quite understood what the uproar and accusations amongst the faculty had been (something about winning a swimming pool?), he was hardly going to turn away the person who was handling his insurance.

He had insurance. That was, like, as whoa as all the painkillers he was on. As whoa as aura. He had aura.

 _Whoa._ Until they explained it to him- something about his amnesia reaching to certain topics and not just years?- he hadn't even known what aura _was._

"It's okay. Send her in," Jaune waved, before poking and pinching himself again. Just like before, it hurt up to a certain point- and then the invisible force field arose, protecting his skin and pushing his fingers apart. Jaune did it again, and again, leaving a trail of little bruises along his left arm.

"You know Tsune, this aura is amazing," he said. "It's like, just a little bit of pain and then it all goes away. You have to do just the right amount to feel anything."

"Uhuh. Oh yeahhhh…" That sigh came closer than he expected- and when he turned to look at her, it was too see her staring at the trail of bruises with fascination.

"Tsune?" he asked.

"Yeah?" She asked, still hypnotized, her tail wagging lazily.

"Tsune? The door?" Jaune prompted.

"Huh? Oh!" she exclaimed coming to. "Right. The door." She made for the door- but paused and turned around. "I can help you with that later if you'd like," she offered with a strange expression. "The right sort of hurt."

Jaune waved it off. "I'm good," he said, to her visible disappointment. Such a helpful nurse, he though. She wasn't even perturbed by what could have come off as a weird fixation. Such a nice person.

Tsune let in the guest, who turned out to be multiple. It was the girls of Team RWBY- who he'd briefly been introduced to, but hadn't had a chance to speak to yet. They seemed to be… he wasn't sure. Whatever they were before, they were strangers now. But like his mother used to say…

"Hi Jaune!" Their leader in the red cloak, Ruby, greeted cheerfully as they entered. "We came to- is that a cast?" she noticed.

"Did you get hurt again?" The black ninja-maid-cat-cosplayer girl, Blake, asked with concern.

"Or did Yang hurt you more than we realized?" Whitey Weiss asked, shooting a look at the blonde.

The buxom blonde shot a dirty look at the pristine girl, but shuffled in guilt anyway.

"It was something else," Jaune said, waving it aside. "Something about winning a swimming pool? I didn't understand it myself. How can I help you?" He asked, changing the subject to them and their arrival.

"You've already done more than enough!" Yang denied, echoed in various forms by her team.

"Thanks for saving my partner from the explosion," Blake said.

"Thanks for saving my sister!" Ruby added.

"Thanks for not dying," Weiss said, pointedly not adding anything about Yang.

Jaune blinked, but then smiled. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I don't remember doing anything like that. You're welcome?" He offered.

They seemed to deflate. "So it's true," Weiss said softly, as much to herself as them. "You really did forget…" she looked at him, who had an appropriately polite but clueless expression on his face, and then elbowed Yang in the side. Yang startled, but seemed to realize the underlying message, and stepped forward and closer to Jaune's bed.

"Prof, I am really, really sorry you got hurt saving me," she said, looking down past her ample bosom towards her feet as she did so. "You wouldn't have gotten hit by the blast wave if you hadn't pushed me to cover, and you wouldn't have had to push me to cover if we- if I- had listened to you. I am really sorry, and I hope you can forgive me," she said, giving an awkward half-bow of apology that didn't do much but show tantalizing angles into her cleavage.

Then she hugged him- leaned over directly and put her arms around him, head to her shoulder. He could feel her hair, smell her- was that perfume, or shampoo? Something heady regardless, almost as heavy as the swells just barely touching his chest where she was leaning over.

"I'm glad you're okay, and I promise to make it up to you," she whispered, voice tight with sincerity. "Help with paperwork like Blake. Do anything you need with that leg. _Whatever_." She lessened the moment with a bit of levity. "Even help jog your memory of how you saved me."

Jaune said nothing- taken aback by the proximity, the sensation, and the smell of femininity mixed with… gunpowder? Firecrackers? It was intoxicating regardless- too much so for a sixteen-year-old mind.

Yang pulled back to judge his reaction, and noticed his shellacked expression.

"Prof? Jaune?" She asked, waving a head in front of his face. "You alright in there?"

Jaune snapped back into focus.

"I'm sorry," Jaune apologized, saying the first thing his mind could articulate. "You're just very beautiful."

Yang's draw dropped. So did everyone else's. The first to recover was Weiss.

"What?"

"What?!"

Jaune flushed, a rosy hue on his cheeks. "You're really, really pretty," he said, looking away bashfully.

"Yes!" Yang cheered, fist pumping to herself.

"Huh? What just happened?" Blake felt lost.

"That, Blake, was me winning the Prof!" Yang claimed.

"No fair!" Ruby cried out, pointing an accusing finger at Yang. "You can't do that! You have Blake!"

"No she doesn't," Blake denied, but was ignored by everyone but Jaune.

"Yeah, and he fell off of Amity Colosseum because of you!" Weiss protested.

"Doesn't matter- he doesn't remember. He just knows I'm hot," Yang said. "This is officially the Best Day Ever."

"Best day- he nearly died!"

"And got amnesia!" Ruby added.

"Maybe he forgot all her bad sides?" Blake suggested.

"Blake, I don't have a bad side," Yang claimed. "I'm Grade A all around. Isn't that right, Teach?" Yang did a little victory dance, turning around to show off her figure.

Jaune said nothing, too busy openly staring.

Tsune, the forgotten watcher, chose to make her presence known. "Technically he's not a teacher anymore," she said. "Until he re-masters the subjects, Professor Arc will be Mr. Arc."

"Professor Jaune is going to class with us?" Weiss wanted to clarify.

"Jaune is going to be a student with us?" Blake asked.

"Jaune could be on a team with us?" Ruby realized- and that made every girl pause again.

"Dibs!" They all tried to claim at once.

"You can't call dibs, I already did!"

"No you didn't, I did!"

"Yang! Say I was first!"

"Sorry Rubes, girls, Weiss-"

"Hey!"

"-but he's mine! Isn't that right, Prof?" Yang asked, throwing an arm around Jaune and sitting on the bed beside him, pulling in tight.

"Whatever you say, my little sunflower."

Yang froze. "What did you say?" She asked.

"Sunflower," Jaune replied. "You know- a pet name. You call me Prof, and I'll call you my little sunflower."

There was a snort as Yang winced.

"That is- that's just- that's just bad, Jaune," she said. "Can't you come up with something better?"

"You are my Sunshine? My only Sunshine?"

Yang paled. Blake snickered.

"My Solar Flare?"

"That one's almost- no, still lame!"

"Sun Angel?"

"No! Stop! Stop ruining my best day ever!" Yang declared, straddling Jaune's legs in order to put a hand over Jaune's mouth to quiet him. "You can't be this lame! Where did my cool, suave, and hot professor go? Where is Professor Arc, damn you? Where is Professor Arc!?"

"He got knocked off of Amity Colosseum and hit his head," Blake reminded.

"Because of you," Weiss helpfully added.

"Nooooo!" Yang wailed. "My fantasy!"

The door slammed open. "What is going on here?!" demanded Glynda Goodwitch.

Four fingers pointed towards Yang, still straddling Jaune's legs as she covered his mouth. Now, however, her eyes were wide with a different kind of fear.

"What," Glynda said, voice cold, "is the meaning of this?"

Tsune sold Yang out in a heartbeat. "Miss Xiao Long has invoked 'dibs' on Mr. Arc," she explained. "Rather blatantly trying to seduce him too," she added.

"Did she now?" Glynda asked.

Yang frantically shook her head no, but all three other girls (and Tsune) nodded yes.

"I didn't mind," Jaune said, but even he only dared to say it softly.

Goodwitch flexed her riding crop. "Miss Xiao Long, were you aware that you had claimed 'dibs' on someone with the mental facilities of a minor?"

Yang thought of her defense. "He's really twenty though, right?" She said. "He's legal!"

"Amnesia, Miss Xiao Long. Amnesia. It could be argued that he is not of legal age in terms of experience and maturity."

Yang paled. "Uh… neither am I! I'm just seventeen!" She defended.

Glynda's expression took a turn for worse. "So you were trying to lead a teacher into statutory rape?"

Yang paled. "I'm just going to shut up now," she said.

"A wise decision, Miss Xiao Long, but too late. It occurs to me that this incident might not have occurred had you paid more attention in combat training," she considered. Her eyes narrowed. "Remedial lessons. Here. Now."

"You can't do that!" Yang protested. "This is an infirmary! A place of healing!"

"I have two professors and a headmaster who can testify otherwise," Miss Goodwitch informed. "And another two rounds for lying about not speaking. Off him. Now."

Yang began to scramble, but even that was too slow. Combat lessons began when telekinesis lifted her up and threw her out the door.

"Should we have our weapons for this?" Yang cried as she flew into the hallway.

"Don't worry, Miss Xiao Long," Goodwitch reassured as she followed. "Your body is my weapon."

The door slammed shut.

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	5. Chapter 5

The Fall of Professor Arc

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Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

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/

The rest of Team RWBY wasn't brave enough to face the battlefield lest they be turned into ammunition, and so those left behind simply hid in the infirmary as the occasional shout of pain or frustration echoed. They also ignored the desperate knocks and pleas of Yang when she managed to reach and claw at the door.

"She sounds rather upset," Jaune noted as Glynda let loose another harsh scolding of some flaw in Yang's form.

"She's just frustrated since she realized she was going to have to wait a few more years," Tsune said easily.

"Huh? What for?" The mentally sixteen-year-old asked.

"Oh, nothing," Tsune said, waving it off. "You'll understand when you're older."

"You don't have to treat me like a child, you know," Jaune groused.

"I know," Tsune said, but didn't apologize in the slightest.

"It kind of fits, though," Blake mused from her spot sitting cross-legged on a bed. Jaune tried not to peek, and managed out of love for his Solar Flare. "Professor Arc was bit more…" she tried to find the word.

"Professional?" Tsune offered.

"Mature?" Weiss suggested.

"Cool," Ruby sighed, but looking dreamily at Jaune none the less.

"I was going to say 'better with the ladies,'" Blake claimed, "but those work too."

"Well, such a deficiency can be overcome," Weiss said. "I'm sure with a bit of tutoring and re-education, he will be as capable and composed as he ever was. In fact," Weiss began to volunteer, "I-"

"Was I good?" Jaune interrupted, wanting to know. "Good with girls, I mean?"

It caused a pause, which Ruby took full advantage of.

"Yeah!" Ruby chirped. "On my first day, I got yelled at by Weiss who was being crabby over an accident-"

"I wasn't crabby!"

"-and you helped me up and were my first friend at Beacon! So I'm a girl, and you were good with me!" Ruby said, a slight blush on her cheeks as she hoped he'd get what she was trying to say.

Jaune smiled before reaching over and tousling her head at the adorableness of it. "Not quite what I meant," he said, making her droop so slightly, "but I wish I remembered it, Ruby," he said, cheering her up a bit.

"Well, let's make new memories together!" Ruby declared, boldly plopping herself beside him on his bed. "You can be my best guy friend!" She said. 'Only' meant 'best', right? And 'guy' was synonymous with 'boy', so…

"Sounds like stiff competition," Jaune laughed, unconcerned with her proximity even as she tried to adjust her seating closer to him. "Did I do well with any other girls?" He asked the remainder of the audience.

There was a moment of awkward, fidgety silence as Blake and Weiss declined to answer and Tsune just looked bemused as she tried not to laugh. It was Weiss who had the idea of how to change the topic to a better direction.

"Excuse me, Professor," she began politely.

"Call me Jaune, please," Jaune answered instinctively- not realizing how similar he sounded to all the other times he'd ever made the request.

"Alright… Jaune," Weiss tested, willing to drop it the title now that he was a fellow student of sorts "I've always wondered but never dared ask, but… what is your type of girl?"

A completely different sort of silence spread across the room- and outside in the hall, where the sounds of fighting suddenly stopped.

Jaune flushed a little at the topic and suddenly being the center of attention. "I'm, er, that's - that's to say… I'm not sure I should say," he hemmed.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, please Jaune?" Ruby begged, leaning over and doing her darndest to look adorable.

Without heroic willpower worthy of the Professor he was, Jaune caved and told her what she wanted to know.

"I like blondes," he admitted.

There was a thud on the far side of the door, like two heads hitting a wall.

"Bustier is better," he continued, and Weiss looked down at herself in disappointment even as four softer thuds hit the outside wall even harder.

"But it's really the hair. There's just something about long hair, you know?"

Weiss and Blake nonchalantly fingered their own. "I think I know," Blake said, considering her own profile.

"So you're saying your ideal type is a busty blonde with long hair?" Tsune tried to clarify.

There was another thud from the outside, and a faint "Hah!", and then a faint scream as Yang flew far away.

"Well, it's less about the length and more about the… I don't know, maturity?" Jaune said, gesturing. "Someone a little bit older who you can rely on? If a mature blonde asked me out, I'd say 'yes' in a heartbeat," Jaune admitted.

The thud happened again, and again, and again and again and again before finishing with a faint "Damn it!"

Beside him, Ruby alone looked downcast as she looked down and saw… well, not long locks of blond hair, and nothing else to brag about yet.

Maybe Tsune saw her and had pity, or maybe Tsune had her own sadistic motives, but the Beacon nurse shook a finger at him. "That's rather petty, Jaune," the faunus tutted. "Are you telling me that if any other girl approached you, you'd turn them away?"

Jaune waved his hands in denial. "Of course not!" he objected. "Any girl is good if they're good!" he said, covering for low standards with a tautology. "Like, black hair is a close second!" he said.

"Really?" Ruby asked, perking up slightly along with Blake.

"Really," Jaune said. "You know what they say- black is better."

"Better than what?" Blake wanted to know.

"White," Jaune said. "I like older, but not that old!" he laughed, not noticing the shaking Schnee or the immature tongue Blake shot at her teammate. "But nothing beats a youthful ponytail," he continued. "The way it restrains the hair, giving a sense of youth mixed with maturity and self-control… better than wild, uncollected hair," he said, still not noticing the turnabout in taunting between the two girls.

"So it's all about the long hair, huh?" Ruby asked, wistfully passing her fingers through her own choppy, boyish cut.

"How long is long enough?" Tsune wanted to know, considering her own just out of curiosity.

"Well… at least touching the shoulders," Jaune said. "There can be something charming about a short cut too, as long as the ears are hidden," he claimed.

"You don't like ears?" Blake asked meaningfully.

"I _love_ cute ears," Jaune denied with unexpected fervor. "I just think they're best as hidden treasures to be uncovered, like so," he said, gently brushing away Ruby's hair from behind to expose her ear. "That answer your questions better?" he asked.

"Ye-ye-yes!" Ruby stammered, glad her face was hidden from him.

"Completely," Blake answered, bashfully looking down even as her- did her bow just twitch? Huh.

"Quite," Weiss agreed, fingering her own ponytail with a smile.

Tsune opened her mouth to answer, but there was yet another thud from outside the room. Jaune took the opportunity to finish his thoughts.

"Really, the only type of girl I wouldn't like is one younger than me," he said. "That'd just be weird, you know?"

Tsune barked a laugh at how the mood of all three girls fell at once. Sensing a feeling of great relief and victory on the far side of the wall, the secret sadist decided the best sort of misery could come from cheering others up.

"Well, lucky for you you're sixteen now for all intents and purposes," Tsune reminded. "Thanks to your amnesia, there are years of girls you wouldn't have considered before."

It was beautiful. There was another thud and suppressed scream so strong that dust vibrated. Two radiant suns, black and white adorned, lit up- and then a third as she too realized what it meant.

"I'm sixteen!" Ruby realized, as if undergoing a great and amazing revelation.

"No you aren't!" Weiss objected a bit too quickly. "You're just fifteen!"

"She's just fifteen," Blake echoed to Jaune in a confidential tone.

"Only for a few more weeks!" Ruby claimed. "Then it's my birthday!"

"Congratulations in advance!" Jaune applauded. "I would have forgotten all about it! Is there anything you'd like for your sweet sixteen, Ruby?"

"We'll be the same age," Ruby said, somehow understating her anticipation.

"Well, yes, but that's not something I can really give," Jaune began.

"And we'll be classmates and close friends from day one," she continued, excitement building.

"Well, I hope so, but a gift should be something more-," Jaune replied at the same rate.

"And I'll help you train late into the night," she narrated, voice quickening.

"Okay, see, I should do something nice for you," Jaune tried to explain.

"Until one night we decide to go to the forge and make something magical, just the two of us-!" her voice raised.

"What? Make what? A weapon?"

"-AND IT WILL BE THE JUST THE START OF OUR LEGEND TOGETHER AS WE-"

In a simple motion Tsune leaned over and jabbed an overly long needle- one big enough to pierce through aura- into Ruby's arm. In a matter of seconds the girl lost steam, rubbed her eyes, and fell against Jaune with a contented, dreamy smile.

"Tranquilizer," Tsune answered the unspoken questions. "Excitable Hunters are more common than you think," she explained.

"Is there any chance I could buy-" Weiss began.

"No."

"Money won't be an issue-" she tried again.

"Money can't buy the joy of jabbing people with needles," Tsune denied.

"Huh. She must really be looking forward to her birthday," Jaune laughed even as he helped lay Ruby down on the bed beside him. "Still not sure what she wants for a present," he said.

"Just bake her some cookies," Blake suggested. "She'll love you for it." Then again- "On second thought, she doesn't need the sugar."

"Maybe," Jaune conceded, petting the already-snoring Ruby, before looking back at Blake and Weiss.

"Well, now that you know my type," he said, looking at the girls, "what sort of guy interests you?"

/

* * *

/

Author Note:

This was a surprisingly fun chapter to write. Mostly because of Ruby, but Tsune is great.

Also because of shipping. And you get a ship, and you get a ship, and you get a ship... no ship is too weird. Except for the person who shipped me and Coeur. That was weird enough to spark a discussion- and maybe a story? Who knows.

Made a minor change to chapter 4- a joke that fell off at some point, and I can't believe I forgot to put back in. Points for finding it, but it's nothing major.


	6. Chapter 6

The Fall of Professor Arc

/

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/

Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

* * *

/

At the end of the day- or at least the first day they let him out of the infirmary- Jaune had to go home. Or at least to his room.

It was a strange experience. Walking down halls he knew he must have walked before, but seeing each one as if for the first time. Not knowing where his own bed was…

At least Blake was here to help him find it. His bedroom, that was. Not his bed. Though he couldn't help but notice she was very attractive-

No. Best not now, at least. Not when he still had the beautiful Miss Sunfire on his mind- and besides, Blake was being helpful. She had apparently been his student aid before the incident. Maybe she was helping out of habit?

"And these are your rooms," she was saying as they came to another unfamiliar door frame. "One was your own, and the other was the one you did your work as a teacher and counsellor. By the sounds of it, you'll stay here until your situation… improves," she said tactfully.

"Thanks," Jaune said, stepping through the portal and looking at… what he imagined a professional psychiatrist's office would be. There was the couch, there was the bookshelf, there were the well-used books on counselling and academics and half a dozen subjects Jaune had never heard of but had apparently been able to teach.

Damn. How smart had he been… before? It was weird, being jealous of himself.

Books… paperwork… more paperwork… man, the stuff kept piling up, didn't it? Blake had said she and Yang- his heart burned for her just at the thought of the beautiful blonde- had helped manage the paper flow while he was out, but it didn't seem to have kept it from piling up.

At least Professor Ozpin wouldn't expect him to continue doing such while he was a student… right?

"Would you like something to eat?" he offered politely as he opened his fridge, not sure if he actually had anything worth having. Some soon-to-be-spoiled milk, produce that would have to be thrown out, and… a fridge half-packed with ice-cream? Jaune discretely checked down his shirt, looking for love handles, and didn't see any.

Man, this aura stuff was awesome! No wonder every girl in this school looked like a supermodel!

"I'm going to wash my face and brush my teeth," Jaune decided, making his way towards his bedroom. "Hospital food's not the best."

Blake idly nodded. "I'll start on the paperwork and explain what is what when you returned," she said.

Jaune entered his own bedroom and took a look around- appreciating how big it was, and the bed more than big enough for two- before spotting the door that doubtless led to his… closet. Alright. Door next to it led to the bathroom.

Jaune blinked as he entered, surprised that the lights were already on. Had he left them on Before? He hoped he wouldn't be on the hook for the power bill. Or the water bill, as the running tap in the bathtub was-

"Professor! What's wrong?" Blake shouted, bursting into the bedroom as the scream subsided.

Jaune was stumbling out of the bathroom, clutching his eyes as he fell backwards onto his bed. Little soap bubbles drifted slowly after him.

"There's a- a- a girl in there!" Jaune managed, somewhere between cries of 'my eyes!' and 'it burns!'

Blake carefully peered around the corner, only to be peered back at by a pair of mismatched eyes. They were- well, a bit irate, a bit confused, and possibly a bit concerned?

"A naked girl!" Jaune cried again, as if in horror.

Or maybe just piqued, as Neo had an indecipherable expression.

Behind Blake, the door to the counselling room burst open.

"Blake! I'm here! What's the matter?!" Yang shouted, rushing into the bedroom and ready to fight. "What happened to Prof?" she asked, seeing him clawing at his eyes.

"Jaune walked in on Neo in the bathroom," Blake explained as Neo put on a towel.

Yang stalled, blinking stupidly. "I thought she was mute," she eventually said.

Neo shot her a glare, and Blake resisted the urge to wince just from proximity. "That was Jaune," Blake informed.

All tension dropped out of Yang's frame. "Aw, Blake! You can't do this to me! You're ruining my image of the late Professor Arc!"

Neo looked to Jaune, then to Blake, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"I guess you hadn't heard?" Blake realized. "Jaune got caught in the explosion at Amity Colosseum, and suffered amnesia as a result. He's forgotten everything about Vacuo," she explained. Neo blinked once, not quite getting it. "He thinks he's sixteen, and has forgotten all about you. I'm sorry," Blake clarified with pity.

Neo's eyes flew open, and she raced to the bed. She tried to look Jaune in the eye- but that was hard since he was still clawing at his, and so she took the more direct route and slapped him until he stopped protecting his eyes to protect his cheeks.

Neo forced her face over his, looking directly into his red, itchy eyes. She held up two fingers, pointed between Jaune and her, and attempted a charade Blake didn't understand.

"Who are you?" Jaune asked after a moment had passed.

"She's your lover," Blake answered, deciding direct was best.

Jaune flushed- so red, so fast, it was hard to believe that just a few days ago he'd been the calm, composed teacher she had trusted. "My lover?!" Jaune cried, voice cracking and eyes dropping as he realized what she was, and wasn't, wearing. His blush doubled.

"From Vacuo," Yang supplied. "You've been making sweet, sweet counseling with her since you got here." she asked.

"Me? And her?" Jaune stammered, taken aback. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as sure can be," Yang said. "Don't you remember your own lover's touch?" she asked with a leer.

Jaune seemed to flinch at that, even though his eyes didn't leave the towel-clad Neo's… towel.

Jaune paled, and turned towards them.

"Was I a paedophile or something?" he asked them, perfectly serious and concerned.

Blake later swore she didn't see Neo move- one moment she was standing there, staring at Jaune in confusion, and then the next she was at the bed, leg coming down in an axe kick that would break the bed. But not Jaune- Jaune was already rolling out of the way, avoiding the blow.

Another came, just as ruthless but even quicker than before. Jaune screamed but dodged again, and again, and then the next as well- an awkward, stumbling, and utterly graceless series of evasions.

"Jaune, what are you doing?" Blake called. His form was horrible!

"I don't know!" her former professor called back. "I just know-" another dodge- "I'll die if I don't!"

"Well, fight back!" she called. "You can't do anything if you don't attack!"

"How?!" Jaune pleaded, before letting loose another yell and another contortion. "How do I stop her?" he begged.

"He's moving on instinct," Yang ruled, watching the ugly dance continue on. "He's forgotten his training, but his body hasn't forgotten the triggers. The need to move."

Blake was impressed despite herself. This would-be mauling was ruthless, and he was managing by muscle-memory alone?

"I wish I'd seen him fight at his prime," she admitted, ignoring his continued pleas for assistance.

"Yeah," echoed Yang. Such a loss.

There was a comfortable pause, before Blake spoke. "Ruby intends to help with his training, you know," she said conversationally. "Hands on, late night training."

"Is that so?" Yang said neutrally, not rising to the bait, but watching the spectacle a bit closer than before.

The 'fight' couldn't go on forever, and didn't. Blake didn't even see the strike that ended it- she could have sworn that Jaune avoided the leg that speared through where his head had been, that he'd had the perfect angle and leverage to look down (up?) Neo's towel and prepare a counter-blow- but instead he'd paused, and then blood had come out of his nose as his head rocked back. Neo seemed just as surprised as them as he fell, already passed out- but then a bit of red anger crossed her face, and she kicked him again in the face for good measure.

Neo stormed between the two, stalked into the bathroom, and soon was dressed in her usual finery. Shooting another mixed expression at Jaune, she looked at Blake, held up two fingers, did a charade Blake still didn't understand, and left out the window.

Blake looked at where she left, looked at Jaune, and looked back at the broken bed.

"Well, that was a thing," Yang said to fill the silence.

/

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/


	7. Chapter 7

The Fall of Professor Arc

/

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/

Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

* * *

/

"Jaune? Are you alright? If you don't wake up, Prof, I'm going to go through your desks and look for the next test."

There was only one person that could be. Jaune let out a groan as he came too and slowly opened his eyes. A beautiful, concerned expression looked down towards him.

"You okay?" Yang asked, hair dazzling in the evening light as she supported his head off the ground.

Jaune tried to think of the best thing he could to answer, to encapsulate the moment, and remembered the most eloquent man to ever die.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Yang is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon-"

A curious mixture of embarrassed blush and pained grimace crossed Yang's face, and she dropped him. Jaune's head dropped on the floor, and he knew his feelings hadn't communicated. He'd been sure quoting the Bard would work.

Well, he guessed what his sisters had said was true. No way he could ever be any sort of actor. He should just stick to being a Huntsman.

"Um, yeah," Yang began as he slowly sat up. "That window faces north, it's just after noon, and Blake just left for lunch because she finished your paperwork." There was that pause. "I helped," she added.

"Thanks," Jaune said, rubbing his head and bloody nose. Strange- he didn't remember taking a blow. The last he remembered was looking down those long, bare legs at-

"So, how's it feel to have seen your lover?" Yang asked, almost hovering at a distance, close but not too close. Interested, but trying not to seem too interested.

Ah. Right. That. What did he feel? Well, that was a stupid question. Not nothing. The moment Blake had said those words- the moment Yang had explained- he'd definitely felt something. He'd felt-

"It's not fair," he said.

"To realize you've forgotten a past love, and wonder if you could ever have it again?" Yang asked rapidly.

"No! Well, maybe now, but- no! It's not fair that I don't remember any of it!" Jaune complained. "If I don't remember it, it's like it never happened."

"Yeah? So?" Yang asked, not realizing his point.

"It's like I'm a virgin again!" Jaune whined.

Yang sucked in her breath. "That's, you know, not the worst thing in the world," she pointed out with a slight flush.

"Yang, I was a _man_ ," Jaune emphasized. "I was confident. I was capable. I knew what I was doing- and I bet I was good at it! And now it's just… gone! How am I supposed to get that all back if I don't know what I did right?" he asked.

"You could relearn it the old fashioned way," Yang suggested with a blush. "You know. By doing it again, and again, and again," she said, blushing a bit more each time.

"Do what?" Jaune asked, embarrassed but also despairing. "I don't remember!"

"I bet your body does," Yang said, nervously licking her lips. "It remember fighting. I bet it remembers… other things as well," she said, starting to lean just a bit closer. "I bet there are people who would be happy to help you… remember… how to be confident," she whispered.

Jaune sucked in his breath- not quite sure what this atmosphere was, but sure that it was as significant as it was heady. "And who-"

The moment was ruined by the most annoying ring tone ever. The sound was- it made shivers go up Jaune's spine, like nails on chalkboard.

Yang didn't seem to mind the sound. Looking away quickly, the moment broken, she found and pointed him towards the source.

"It's yours," she indicating, pointing him towards the scroll on his desk.

Both of them made their way towards it to see who it was. On it there was no name. Or rather, the phone ID just displayed 'The Jerk.'

"Not your favorite person?" Yang asked looking at it.

"Don't remember. Guess we'll find out," Jaune said, and took the call.

Both he and Yang were blown back the already on-going stream of cussing that came forth.

"Alright you little punk," the barrage translated nicely to. "You better answer this fucking minute because-"

"Hello?" Jaune offered, trying to get a word inward. "Who is this?"

"This is your god, you miserable cretin," the male voice thundered, "and you'll be my bitch if you can't find me five million lien's worth of dust by the end of the week!"

Jaune and Yang traded confused glances.

"And why would I do that?" Jaune asked.

"Because you bloody well blew up the last five million!" The voice declared. "You, at Amity, with those stupid precious students of yours! I don't care how important they are to you, that Dust was worth more than most of them combined!"

"I don't think you can place a value on human life," Jaune said because he felt he was expected to say something. Fortunately, though, Yang seemed to approve.

"How noble of you, Professor," the voice said, thick with sarcasm. "You sound like a real teacher."

"Um… thanks?" Jaune said.

"That was- you know what, never mind," the voice decided. "If you want to keep playing that role, you better get me five million more lien of dust- though it's probably thirty million at this point thanks to your bloody explosion- and you get it for me by the end of the week. Hook, crook, sleep with the Schnee, I don't care. Do you understand?"

Yang curled her hand, ready to demand to know who this asshole was, but Jaune didn't let her speak.

"Not really," Jaune admitted. "As a teacher, why would I do such a thing for you?"

"You will if you want to ever be trusted with students again!" The voice snarled. "In case you've forgotten, I know your secret, Jaune Arc!"

Jaune froze- irrational fear rising- but the better part of his mind reassured him. This was- this was like one of those blackmail techniques, right? You take a shot in the dark, let the guilty conscience do the rest…

"I know about Vacuo!"

Vacuo.

Vacuo, Vacuo, Vacuo- it was important. Even now, something about the word twisted his soul, filled him with echoes of guilt and regret and shame. Everything that was suppressed- everything that everyone told him was now buried. Everything of his missing years cantered around it. What had happened? What had he done?

("Was I a paedophile or something?" he asked them, perfectly serious and concerned.)

Fear clawed at his heart- is this how he was going to go down? For the sins, the dirty secrets of some other life? If anyone learned, if anyone knew-

But they did know. Blake and Yang knew about Neo, and they'd stood by him and had a good opinion of him. Yang was here with him. Looking at him with concern. He- whoever he was, had been- had trusted them enough to tell them. And they trusted him. He didn't know much about them- had barely known them for a day- but he already knew he could trust them. And that they wouldn't trust someone without a good reason. He could trust their trust in him.

Shot in dark it was, then.

"I'm sorry. I forgot," Jaune admitted.

"Then you better not mess around and-"

"I forgot, and now I don't care," Jaune finished.

There was a thunderous silence, the other side unable to believe what it was hearing.

"You… what?" the incredulous voice asked.

"I don't care," Jaune said, more firmly than before. "I'm not a teacher anymore anyway, and even if I were I wouldn't press my students or break the law like that."

"Is this- is this your idea of a joke?" The speaker tried to comprehend. "Do you think that matters? Do you think you can weasel your way out of this? You owe me a favor! You owe me more than one! I put you into Vacuo, you son of a bitch!"

"Well, you see, I don't remember that and I believe you," Jaune said, remembering twenty lien with Professor Ozpin. "I already fell for this trick once already. So… yeah. Nice try, but no."

The cursing returned, and so did the threats.

"You think you can play dumb, Jaune? You think you think you can just 'forget'? I will destroy you! And all your precious students! The next time I see Red Riding Hood, I won't settle for sending you to a hospital! I'll make you watch as-"

"Shut the hell up," Jaune ordered, anger flashing through his head as Ruby's friendly face flashed before his eyes. Somehow that overpowered the other side- or maybe they were just surprised- but Jaune had the space to continue. "I don't know who you are, but if I ever hear your voice again around me or my friends, I'm calling the police," Jaune warned.

With great finality Jaune slammed his finger on the end call button, panting as he did so as the adrenaline faded.

"Well, that was a-" he began, before Yang grabbed him and pulled him into a brutal kiss.

It was sudden- too sudden to prepare beforehand, leaving him breathless as she separated and looked at him with smoldering eyes.

"If you were the Professor Arc I remember right now, I would be having you right here on this desk until you begged for mercy twice," she stated with absolute conviction.

Jaune swallowed a little, throat suddenly tight. "I can't remember ever begging for mercy before in all my life," he admitted.

"Twice!"

/

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/

Author Note:

Poor Yang. So close, and yet so far. Shout-out to the Sherlock, and Irene Adler, for that amazing scene from The Woman. You know it- and if you don't, you should youtube it.


	8. Chapter 8

The Fall of Professor Arc

/

* * *

/

Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

* * *

/

Jaune absence was a conspicuous one in the Teacher's Lounge that evening. After so many nights, so many months of commiseration, every teacher there missed his company. But they could also agree that his absence was for the best- a regretful but ultimately necessary sabbatical for the newest 'student' of Beacon until he once again returned. A separation that would keep the mystery and impenetrable barrier between teachers and students.

And hide the extensive drinking and combination to the staff minibar while we're at it.

They were all there- well, alright, only four of them were there, but they were the important four. Ozpin, Oobleck, and Port sat at a table, playing cards as Peter dealt and Ozpin was no doubt counting. A little ways away Glynda sat at the bar, alone and nursing a drink of her own as she listened.

"I regret to report that I was unable to contact our dear colleague's family," Oobleck was recounting. "Despite exercising all due diligence and then some, after attempting every point of contact we had on file, no Arc I managed to reach was familiar without our own Professor Arc."

"Odd, that," Peter considered even as he dealt again. "Didn't Jaune mention his sisters and mother were alive?"

"So he did, so he did," Oobleck said. "But when I called those numbers, no one knew of any relative at Beacon Academy."

"Perhaps they changed numbers since then?" Peter asked. "Or moved?"

"How could we find them then?" Oobleck. "We could have simply announced it over the airwaves during the tournament, but now that the Vytal Festival has been cancelled…"

That sparked a groan all of its own, and Ozpin didn't try to hide his dismay as he took another stiff drink. They all did. The incident was truly a mess all around. Even if any of them had any idea of where else to find five million lien worth of dust by the end of the week- even if they had five million lien on hand before, if, the insurance payments came through as Glynda would no doubt ensure they would- even if the Schnee Dust Corporation decided to do it all pro-bono and rushed as much dust as they possibly could as fast as they could-

It didn't change that the dust explosion that had thrown Professor Arc off of Amity Colosseum had been, well, inside Amity Colosseum.

The hole in the stadium seating alone was expected to take months to repair- complete system checks and repairs to the inner circuitry alone many more. Between that, the proven involvement of the White Fang in staging what was being called the worst terrorist attack that never happened, and everything else… even the Council had ultimately said 'fuck it' and cancelled. Whether or not people would have come, it was deemed too unsafe as well as impossible. And so Amity had left Vale, trundling off to Atlas with Ironwood's air fleet, and leaving Ozpin to deal with the mess being uncharitably blamed on his students and faculty.

Ozpin liked arranging for those persons to meet Glynda. Insurance agencies across Vale already feared her, and now too were many of the Council's petty bureaucrats. Maybe, when they wised up to that, he could send them to Taiyang Xiao Long. The man had his own views on the Professor who saved his daughter, and other views on those who blamed him.

But that still left Jaune himself, and his family. And for that, Professor Ozpin would…

"We'll do nothing at this time," Ozpin decided. "We will give him time to recover, or to adapt to his new life, before making this public in hopes of gaining their attention." Not because they were swamped with work at the moment, not because drawing attention to Jaune's role and condition might harm Beacon's reputation, not because Ozpin really didn't want to deal with angry parents.

Not entirely because of those reasons, at least. He really did want to give his counsellor time to adjust to life as a student- as the student he hadn't had the chance to be at Vacuo.

"Well, that settles that then!" Peter guffawed, willing to accept it and move on. "And how is our colleague settling in? Officially and, ahem, personally?"

"Mr. Arc's paperwork has cleared all levels of the bureaucracy," Glynda claimed from where she was nursing a drink at the bar, not bothering to turn around. "His enrollment in Beacon as a student is officially recognized, even as he draws his health insurance benefits for his… condition," she said formally.

Oobleck paused, unsure of how to broach his question. "And what, ahem, of the age restriction for enrolling for Beacon? Of being too old?" He asked. "The one that helped motivated his employment in the first place?" he said, looking briefly at Ozpin.

Glynda thinned her lips in a grimace, and did not speak, so Ozpin did.

"Mr. Arc's records have been… rectified," he said. Another reason he wasn't eager to find the correct Arc family… and another favor owed to Qrow in the meantime. "There is no limit on the age of instructors we hire to give them benefits, but to prevent any confusion or… misunderstandings... Mr. Arc is, in the eyes of the law, a sixteen year old minor as well as a student of our academy."

Glynda threw back her glass and drained the spirits within, before reaching over and refilling it anew.

"Onto lighter, better news," Ozpin transitioned, "Peter, what about that… other issue that arose?"

Peter laughed, loud and boisterous. "That little prank someone sent us claiming that Jaune's transcripts were forged from the start?" He asked, barely able to say it without laughing.

Ozpin let a lip curl. "Yes," he said. "That."

"Well, it was anonymous from the start," Peter said, "so the sender wasn't willing to reveal himself to us- likely because he believed he would be even less credible if he did so. That was his first mistake," Peter claimed.

"His second was timing- so soon after Jaune tragically loses his memory, and his ability to defend himself?" Peter shook his head. "An opportunistic attempt if there was ever one. If this wretched soul truly cared, he would have revealed before Amity, not afterwards. There's a motive here, as likely to be revenge as any other. And third…" the big man shrugged.

"Jaune's records before they were 'rectified' were just as they said. Either our anonymous source truly edited every official database in Vale to alter the age and birth date of one fraudulent student… or they simply looked at what was already there, and claimed credit. The perfect thief, for a crime never detected." He snorted, showing how likely he thought that to be.

"Your conclusion?" Ozpin asked, not the only one enjoying this amusing, almost comical, attempt at a diversion someone had sent their way. Even Glynda looked pleased, almost smug, as Peter ripped the case apart.

"Obvious slander by a nefarious criminal," Peter ruled. "Likely as revenge, even retaliation, for Jaune's role in foiling… whatever the White Fang had planned at Amity. A promising Huntsman- one who no less than three Huntsman and the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon Academy herself have worked with and have full faith in- accused of impropriety the moment he can no longer defend himself?" Peter scoffed. "They must take us for fools- thinking we would cast aside such a promising lad so easily. That we would confuse a forgotten education for total incompetence."

"An obvious ploy," Ozpin agreed, smiling at the sheer amateurish gall of whoever had attempted it, "and not one we will fall for. Jaune was our colleague, once, and he will be again… but for now, he will be our student and become a fine Huntsman all the same."

"He'll have the education he couldn't get before," Glynda vowed, and none dared oppose her. None of them even wanted to.

"To Jaune," Ozpin toasted. "The best assistant teacher we could have asked for- and just as qualified as the rest of us."

"To Jaune," they all agreed.

/

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/

Author Note:

It's funny because it's true.

As for people worrying about drama...

Drama? From me? In this story? Peshaw. Please.

That's next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

The Fall of Professor Arc

/

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/

Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

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/

A little while later- when drinking had replaced sense and Ozpin had turned from card counting to blatant cheating- Peter saddled up to the bar where Glynda still nursed her drinks alone.

"It will be fine, you know," he encouraged his colleague. "I'm certain that lad will be perfectly alright and be looking up to you all over again soon enough."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Glynda lied, right before admitting "I'm not sure I want that."

She blinked. Perhaps she'd had more to drink than she'd thought. Peter silently encouraged her to share her thoughts.

"He's… so close, and yet so far away Peter," Glynda reflected. "I can almost, almost reach him, and yet he's just out of my grasp. Just like at Amity."

"You saved him, Glynda," Peter said, less boisterous and more gently than he was accustomed. "It's thanks to you he lived at all. You saved his life."

"Did I?" Glynda wondered. "Or just three quarters of it? Four years, Peter, four years. He's just a boy now."

"He's always been just a lad to me," Peter demurred. "No change there."

Glynda scowled at her glass, trying to get her thoughts as clear and convincing as they usually were.

"He's… a boy now. A student, just like the rest of them. Young, inexperienced, small. A minor," she spat.

"Ah. You're referring to his age," Peter acknowledged.

"Sixteen," Glynda said, though it was almost a curse. "Mentally. Emotionally. Legally." This time she really did let loose a short curse under her breath. "I shouldn't let this- let him- affect me like this," she said, trying to pull herself together.

"You know the truth, though," Peter said. "It's not wrong to feel… whatever you feel," he said, tactfully oblique.

"Isn't it?" she countered. "I- we almost had something, Peter," she admitted. "Or at least I think we did. Before Amity. But now?"

She shook her head. "I look at him, and it's like a completely different person- someone different, someone inexperienced and still insecure. I think, 'That's not Professor Arc.' But then there are these moments, and he says something the right way or does the right thing, and it's like Jaune's back. Just for a moment. A glimpse of what he was."

"Or what he could be again," Peter pointed out.

"I miss him, Peter," Glynda admitted, looking at the spirits in the bottom of her glass.

"We all do, lass. We all do."

"I meant what I said about giving him the education he couldn't get at Vacuo. I'll be the best teacher he ever had," she declared. "It's the most I can do for him."

"Don't you mean the least?"

"No. I don't."

Peter sighed. "For now, Glynda. For now. He'll be back with again, if we lead him here." He lumbered to his feet, standing. "And I have a feeling a lot of us will be helping him along the way."

"I've noticed. He and Team RWBY are rather close," she said, offering no other opinion.

Peter sighed again, and dared put a heavy hand on her shoulder in a supportive pat. "Don't give up hope yet, Glynda," he said, supportive. "You deserve to be happy too."

Glynda lazily looked at him from the side of one eye. "You still have money riding on this, don't you?" she asked, too drunk and too tired to be truly angry.

Peter smiled and gave her a knowing wink. "I'm still betting on you," he said. "And this time, I stand to make a lot more."

Glynda gave a half smile. "I knew there was a reason I only broke half of your ribs," she said.

Peter left and soon after, so did she. Finishing her drink, waving off an offer for escort, Glynda shakily walked the Beacon halls towards her own room so far away.

It was a long walk, and her legs were wobbling from all the drink, and so she ended up taking a rest in one of the outdoor gardens- just her, the cool air, and rare crescent moon.

"Miss Goodwitch?"

She blinked as she realized that the moon was attached to a shield, and that shield to a boy. It was him.

"Mr. Arc," she greeted, the name sounding unnatural to her own ears. "What are you doing up this late?" she asked, tone giving no hint of her inebriation.

"Studying," he answered promptly.

"With Team RWBY?" She asked before could stop herself.

But Jaune shook his head. "On my own," he answered. "I thought it'd be best to figure out what I need to study so I know what to catch up on. I found a course syllabus in my office, and-" he shrugged, and looked a bit… uneasy? Embarrassed? "I think you gave it to me," he admitted, pulling out and showing it to her.

It was a well-worn tomb- packed with sticky tabs and color-coded bookmarks. Even without opening it she knew what she would see- that it would be crammed to the margins with efficient, effective notes and points.

It was one of the first things she had given to him when he had arrived in Beacon, so long ago.

"Yes. I did," she admitted, voice dry.

"It's really good, really helpful," Jaune said, blathering on in his praise. "I wanted to thank whoever put it together, which I guessed was you and- did I ever thank you?" he asked, thought occurring to him.

("Thank you. I appreciate it. Is that material for me to look over?")

("You went to so much effort for me, thank you so much.")

("No, this is wonderful Gly- Miss Goodwitch.")

("Thank you then, Glynda. I hope you'll call me Jaune as well?")

"Many times," she managed, voice cracking.

"Miss Goodwitch, are you alright? Do you need help?" Jaune- no, not Jaune, not her Jaune, Mr. Arc- asked in infuriatingly familiar concern. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

 _You could come back to me._

"No, nothing. Just a little too much to drink. I'll be fine. Leave me and go about your studies, Mr. Arc," she dismissed, looking at the real moon moon instead of some… of some fake imitation.

"I won't do that, Glynda."

It was- the voice, the tenor, the confidence- it was him. And when she looked, the imposter looked almost as surprised as she did.

"I- I won't leave you alone," he said, the familiarity and confidence gone but something with no less conviction left behind. "I won't try to help if you don't want to be bothered, but I won't leave you if you need help," he vowed.

She frowned. "I don't need help," she claimed, and made to rise to her feet. It was a struggle- her legs were in worse shape than she thought- but with a little magic from her semblance-

-or a supportive shoulder that fit so naturally against hers-

He was there. Both, neither, drunken mind flittering between the man with the coat and plate and this boy in a hoodie- it was him.

"Can I help you to your room, Miss Go-" he paused, as if remembering something else, something better to say.

"May I walk you to your room, Glynda?" he asked instead.

Glynda closed her eyes, let her go of her semblance slowly, and let the young man help her instead. Resting her head on the back of his neck, if she noticed how he paused as she leaned against him- as her hair fell past her own shoulder and onto his- she didn't dwell on it.

"I'd like that, Jaune."

/

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/

Author Note:

Hi drama. Bye drama.

Comedy returns tomorrow as we approach the end of this story.


	10. Chapter 10

The Fall of Professor Arc

/

* * *

/

Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

* * *

/

"Damn him," Roman Torchwick cursed under his breath as he threw another suit in his suitcase. Threw! That was quality material there, and now it would be, horrors, wrinkled!

The kid would probably have been amused- if he wasn't shaking in fear of Roman's wrath- if he actually remembered a damn thing about who Roman was and what Roman held over his head. Had held over his head. Blackmail and favors don't work when the person involved doesn't remember them.

Or when leaking the truth is dismissed as a lie. The rare curse of being too good- having forged the documents and altered the databases to make them pass muster, his own cover up was more convincing than the truth. That kid had the devil's luck- and giving the bill to Roman.

Just one more thing to pay back the good 'Professor' for- with interest. When he wasn't running for his life. Which might be never.

"And where do you think you're going, Roman?"

Or, alternatively, which might not be very long at all.

Roman turned, managing to hide his fear as he realized he was caught red-handed. It was exactly who he expected- Cinder. He didn't see her minions, which only made him more on guard. If she was willing to confront him, then they were certainly in wait for Neo. Not even his accomplice could save him now.

At least she'd told him- well, communicated- what had occurred. He wouldn't die wondering, at least.

Still, if he was going to die, he could die with style. And take a page from the kid's book and bullshit his way through to the end.

"Ah, I'm just packing for a business trip," Roman blatantly lied. "Got to catch up on all that dust, after all."

"It's already too late, Roman," she reminded in an accusatory tone. "The window for supplying the tournament has closed since Amity Colosseum flew away. You missed your deadline, and so they cancelled the Vytal Festival." Her eyes narrowed in a beautiful but deadly glare. "I did not have you set free from Ironwood's prison on a whim. You have set my plans back some time, Roman. At least until Amity Colosseum is repaired, and possibly years."

"I set them back?" Roman protested, affronted. "Whose faunus were discovered by a bunch of kids bumbling about the Colosseum while I had the alibi of being locked up in Ironwood's cell? Who let that fight to the store rooms to blow a hole in Amity? Heck, who was the one who sold our dust stockpile by selling it in the first place?!" he accused in full bravado.

Cinder narrowed her eyes once more. "Watch yourself, Roman," she warned.

Roman was unfazed. As if she weren't already planning on killing him- though now that she was placing it as a conditional, she was already opening herself to the prospect that he might live. Maybe.

"I did nothing but do my best at an impossible task," Roman claimed. "I shook ever bush, robbed every store that didn't have Ironwood's army outside, and a few that did. It's not my fault the dust to replace Amity simply wasn't in Vale. I even called in favors with my best contacts!" he defended.

"Your best? Ah, yes, Professor Arc. Thank you for telling me about his condition, by the way."

He hadn't. Why would he? Her minions- hell, she herself- could and would have heard it regardless. He'd been so busy jumping through his ass to get the dust, he'd barely had time to fume when Neo had passed on what she'd learned.

Cinder continued. "It is… unfortunate our relationship ended in such a way," she said. "A wasted opportunity."

It was vague whether she was talking about the kid or him. Judging by the look she was giving him- of someone watching a death row prisoner with curiosity- it was likely both.

"Tell me, Roman," she said, reaching out to touch his chest while making her last request of him- and wasn't it normally the condemned who got to make those? "Why did the formerly Professor Arc ever work with you as a contact? I've never understood what exactly he needed from you."

Ah. That was it- the lingering nibble of curiosity. And possibly an angle on him later, if the opportunity rose. Well, if Roman was going down, he could take the kid with him.

"Forged transcripts," Roman answered honestly. "The kid needed help getting into Beacon."

Cinder paused, finger warm but not blazing hot- yet. "Help?" she wondered. "He seemed more than capable, coming from Vacuo."

Roman laughed. "He's as much a student of Vacuo as you are," Roman said, only then realizing that he didn't know where Cinder had gone to school. Hopefully not Vacuo. "The kid never stepped foot in a combat academy until he went to Beacon."

Cinder looked suspicious- even perplexed. "Is this your attempt at a joke, Roman?" she asked.

"No joke," Roman denied. "I forged the transcripts that got him in- and hired, since they were too good. I even had to unlock his aura so they wouldn't catch on," he said, emphasizing his own role because… well, why not? He'd die proud before he died humble. "Kid worked for me because he knew I could reveal him at any time. Hell, I call him kid because he's not even old enough to drink yet."

Cinder laughed- honestly, unexpectedly laughed. "You expect me to believe," she began, "that a fraud snuck into the academy of the second most skilled spymaster on Remnant, as a teacher no less, and went the entire time undetected by student and faculty alike?"

"We did have to train him up and cover for him a good deal," Roman admitted, "but that's just how good I am," he continued, making a case for himself. "Even the school believes his transcripts were real. I checked." By trying to tell them the truth, but she didn't need to know that particular failure.

"Record checks are trivial if you modify the databases they're check against," Cinder waved off. "I'm talking of his abilities. His competence. His composure. Jaune had ties with some of the most powerful, most well-connected, and most dangerous people in Remnant included." Herself included, of course. "And you're claiming that a child was able to deal with me and…" she trailed off, too many options to decide on.

Fool her? Not be detected by her? Those would both be bitter pills to swallow, perhaps to bitter to accept, but neither would be as impossible to accept as-

"Not be hot and bothered by you?" Roman taunted, unable to restrain himself.

Cinder actually colored- anger and possibly a bit of embarrassment. Roman had never raised her less-than-professional conduct before, having enjoyed keeping his head, but if he was going to die anyway…

Well, no reason to let her know she'd been successful when she thought she hadn't. For a woman so wicked, she had an ego like every other beautiful woman he'd ever met.

Instead of a wrathful fire, though, Roman felt the cool air. Cinder visibly composed herself, closed her eyes, and finally let out a chuckle.

"I know what you were trying to do," she said, sounding pleased with herself.

It wasn't what Roman was expecting- but with her eyes closed, she didn't catch his fleeting look of confusion. "Oh?" he said, encouraging her to inform him.

"Don't try to deny it," she said, gesturing at the half-packed suitcase behind him. "You were intending to flee and take Jaune on your way out," she said.

The thought had crossed his mind- though more along the lines of 'take Jaune out.' A quick teleport with Neo, a brief but satisfying bloody vengeance, and then finding somewhere far away to hide for the next decade or two…

"I don't for a minute believe your outlandish claim of forged transcripts," Cinder claimed, making Roman want to rip out his hair and yell in frustration. "By all accounts, Jaune has succeeded too well too often for it to be just a fluke. But even I did believe you," she continued, entertaining the hypothetical. "Even if I believed you that Jaune was simply the luckiest, most adaptive, and most talented actor in Remnant," she listed, her eyes burned in desire of multiple sorts, "he would still be a marvelous asset all the same. Especially if he were spirited away and that potential harnessed."

She nodded to herself, ever more convinced. "You would steal him away- at his weakest, his most confused- and mold him as you saw fit. Shape him into an asset, knowing from the start what he could become. A pawn, yours for the taking," she explained, in a tone that suggested it was the only logical explanation.

Roman was kinda creeped out about it, honestly. What was with this kid that made powerful, dangerous, and older women think the best of him and then some?

"Uh, yeah, you caught me," Roman lied, still wondering. Was it a semblance of some sort? That really would be a useful thing to steal away… dust, now he was succumbing!

Cinder looked pleased with herself- and vindictive. "I said you would compensate me, Roman, and you will- not just the dust. Tell me how you were going to reach through to him," she demanded with a glare. "And be honest- I won't tolerate another lie from you."

Roman's eyes were wide in shock. Not of fear- but that Cinder had convinced herself into sparing him. He might actually live through this!

"I was going to take Neo and wing it," Roman admitted. Whether or not he killed Jaune on the way out, taking his favourite teleporter and accomplice was always the plan.

"Neo, Neo," she muttered to herself, puzzling out his non-existent great plan herself. She'd probably do a better job of it than he could. Cinder nodded as she put pieces together until they made some sort of sense.

"Of course," Cinder realized. "I'd thought it just a baseless rumor or misunderstanding, but it all makes sense now. His loyalty wasn't to you- it was to her. He and Neo were lovers, weren't they?"

Roman opened his mouth to object on his accomplice's behalf. Seriously, transcripts he himself made were one thing, but they were taking school gossip as gospel now? Before he could object (and before he could restrain himself because, hey, this misunderstanding was saving his life), Cinder held up her hand.

"Never mind, don't tell me," she dismissed, already taking it for granted. "It's in the past. Fortunately, with the amnesia, he's forgotten her."

"Don't you mean 'unfortunately'?" Roman asked before he could restrain himself.

Cinder paused, a flash of something coming across her face. "Of course. That's what I meant," she lied, but Roman didn't call her out on it twice. Not when he was this close to surviving.

Cinder continued on; bringing the session to a close. "You will continue your little recruitment scheme," Cinder dictated, "but you will do so to my benefit. Your pawn will become mine, Roman- just part of your payment for failing to procure the dust."

"Yours, right. Got it," Roman agreed, instantly selling Jaune for his own survival. Revenge would no doubt be delayed- but better delayed than post-mortem. "Anything else I should know?" he asked. "How do you want him- scared and terrified would be the quickest," Roman offered.

"No," Cinder ruled at once. "When he comes to me, it must be by his own will. I won't have you poisoning him against me in the process," Cinder warned. "No rushing." That suited Roman just fine- it was even why he'd phrased it the way he had. The longer it took, the longer Cinder wouldn't be trying to kill him, and more likely she was to accept his continued survival after the fact.

"I do not have the time or cover to stay at Beacon and do this myself," Cinder continued, concluding the session. "I suspect Glynda Goodwitch would… interfere if I tried. You will have to convince him to leaving Beacon, and willingly," she dictated. "Once he has left the faculty's eyes, I will handle the rest."

"That might be a bit difficult," Roman warned, just so that she wouldn't complain about progress in a month or so. "The last time we spoke, he hated the sound of my voice." And threatened to call the police…

"Then talk less," Cinder said without pity as she made her leave. "Or speak with another pair of lips. I hear Neo is good at that," she slung.

Roman felt a flash of anger on his accomplice's behalf, but like always he restrained it. Besides, there were other ways to retaliate now.

"Not afraid Neo might steal him for herself again?" he not-quite taunted. Hot and bothered indeed.

Cinder paused, he last taunt in her mind as well- just like he intended. "I will address that problem if it comes to that," she said, before finally departing.

Roman watched her go. That hadn't gone as he'd hoped- he'd hoped he'd be free and clear- but it was better than he'd feared when she caught him packing to flee. He was alive.

And he had to look after the kid. Again. Because if Jaune died, Roman had no doubts who Cinder would blame, and he was on thin ice enough as it is. Not only would he have to convince Neo to keep up her appearances to retrain him, but he needed her to - gag- seduce Jaune away. (Though he'd never put it in those terms himself. He just hoped that the new Jaune was a masochist.)

That would not be a fun conversation to have. Neo was still sulking for losing the favors Jaune had forgotten he owed her- and this time she'd probably demand it out of Roman.

Just another thing to blame Professor Arc for.

Damn it.

Maybe the kid would regain his memories if Neo gave him enough concussions?

/

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/

Author Note:


	11. Chapter 11

The Fall of Professor Arc

/

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/

Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

* * *

/

"Do you think Professor Arc would come back if I gave Jaune a big enough concussion?" Yang mused in the privacy of the Team RWBY dorm room.

"Yang!"

"No!"

Which obviously meant it wasn't very private at all, with her own partner and sister both look at her in horror.

"What?" she defended herself. "A knock on the head did this, right? So maybe a knock to the head could undo this," she reasoned. "Knock his mental barriers right out."

"I don't think healing works by compounding ills," Blake cautioned.

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed. "Why would you want to hurt Jaune anyway, Yang?" she demanded.

"Because he hurts me," Yang claimed, a mix of melodrama and sorrow. "It hurts to see him like this."

Ruby pouted. "I don't see what you're complaining about," she grouched. "He really likes you."

This time Yang really did wince- as much at the memory of recent flirtations than her little sis's displeasure.

"He is rather smitten. I thought you'd enjoy wrapping him around your finger," Blake added.

"Yeah- Professor Arc," Yang clarified. "Because he played the game. Not his embarrassing double who's all but falling over himself with cheesy pickup lines." She winced again. "Whoever taught him how to talk to women at Vacuo has my thanks, and my sympathy."

"I don't see what's so bad," Ruby protested, hugging her pillow tightly to her chest. "He's still Jaune inside. He's still fun to be around."

"You just say that because he still dotes on you and doesn't flirt," Yang scowled. It was true, though… when he wasn't flirting. He wasn't cool, but he was easy going and friendly enough. "I liked Professor Arc better," she admitted.

"I don't know," Blake hedged. "I think it's like another side of his personality we're getting to know for the first time. It's still him, though- haven't you seen caught those moments where you recognize him? See what he could- will- be?"

Yang remembered the phone call, and the kiss when she'd been caught up in the moment, and flushed a bit. "Yeah," she admitted. She didn't regret it- even if it had solidified his interest in her. She just wanted him to hurry up and grow cool again.

"Yeah!" Ruby echoed cheerfully, not knowing about that particular scene. "Besides, haven't you ever wondered what he was like when he was our age?" she asked. "What he was like before he grew up into a super-cool Huntsman teacher?" she gushed.

Yang had, but would have been gladder if she'd never known. "I'm just saying, he's killing my image of the Prof," she said. "I wish he'd just gets schooled and go back to being cool and kickass already. Then maybe I'd go along with it. Until then, I wish he'd stop," she trailed off, trying not to sound disgusted by the horrible flirtations. What made it worse was that she knew he could do so much better!

Instead of standing up for her crush, Ruby was silent for a moment- a silly expression that she probably thought was sly crossing her face as she reached out and patted Yang's hand comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Yang," Ruby assured with false sweetness. "I'll school Jaune for you," she promised.

"Oh?" Yang asked, as much bemused as anything else as she traded raised eyebrows with Ruby.

Ruby barely hid her fantasizing as she explained. "Oh, sure," she said easily. "I already have idea for training together," she admitted. "I'll be happy to help him make up for lost time as a student- studying, sparring, socializing- he could be like the fifth member of Team RWBY! And in four years, when he's cool and ready to graduate and be a professor again…" she smiled sweetly at Yang. "You won't mind if he's moved on and found someone else by then, will you Yang?" she asked in her most charming tone. "Someone who was there for him the whole time?"

"Someone like you?" Blake filled in, Ruby's crush being such old news that the younger girl didn't bother to deny. "How… selfless, Ruby," she said dryly. "I'm sure no one else has the same idea," she said, thinking back to the latest meeting of the Professor Arc fan club.

"Exactly!" Ruby exclaimed, not picking up the irony. "I'll build my special place from the ground up."

Yang gave her sister a fond, but playfully challenging, stare. "I dunno, Ruby," she played. "Do you think that's enough of a head start? Even with four years you might not grow up to be pretty enough to give me a run for my money," she taunted.

Ruby bristled… cutely. "I'll be pretty! Just you wait, Yang- one day I'll out-beauty you! Jaune already says I'm cute," she boasted.

Yang laughed at the adorably precocious girl. "You are cute, Ruby," she admitted, rubbing her sister on the head, "but I'm sexy. Think you can beat that in four years?" she taunted.

Ruby made to lunge at her sister, childish tantrum and silliness personified. "I'm going to beat you, Yang!" she swore. "I'm going to so beautiful his head will spin and you'll be jealous!" she vowed before jumping.

"Ooh, tempting!" Yang laughed as she wrestled with Ruby. From aside and above, Blake just watched, and smiled, and laughed.

That last got Yang's attention as she forced Ruby into a headlock. "What about you, Blake?" Yang asked. "No designs on our dear professor?" she asked, and Ruby stilled as she waited for the answer as well. "You're still doing the d-" there was an elbow from Ruby- "detention with him every week, aren't you?"

Blake closed her eyes and shut the book she'd been reading. "It's not like that," she denied maturely. "It's still punishment from the docks, it's just reversed. Instead of me being counselled, I'm supposed to help him adjust to being a student. And help him through his repressed memories of Vacuo," she explained.

Yang blinked, and so did Ruby. "What do you know about repressed memories?" they asked.

"Not a thing- which is why I'm reading up on psychology," she said, showing what she had been reading.

"Formative Behavioural Psychology, Pavlov, and You?" Ruby struggled to read from a distance.

"It's a long reading list," Blake shrugged.

Yang gave Blake a disappointed expression, and then a leer as something occurred to her.

"Oh, Blake, you should try my favorite one," Yang joked. "Maybe you've heard of it- 'Sexual Healing'?" she asked with wagging eyebrows even as Ruby blushed.

"Not my style," Blake denied, opening it back up again, "but I'll let Jaune know you were interested in offering," she said, just so that she could hear Yang's gag and frantic begging for mercy and forgiveness.

"So… you're not interested?" Ruby asked as Yang was wiping her mouth and mind of horrific pickup line scenarios. "In Jaune, I mean?" she clarified.

"Not interested at all," Blake claimed, smiling encouragingly at her team leader. "There's enough competition over him already between you and Yang and who knows who else. Not something I need to get involved in," she explained. "Besides, having lost his memories I bet he'd appreciate someone who just wanted to be a friend," she reasoned.

"I want to be his friend," Ruby protested.

"Just a friend," Blake emphasized elegantly, but gave Ruby an encouraging smile all the same.

"Wow, Blake," Ruby marveled. "I hope I can be as mature as you when I grow up. Do you think Jaune would like me more if I were more like you?" she asked.

Blake was flattered, but Yang was not. The blonde girl had an irate expression on her face, probably jealous that her sister's envy wasn't in her direction. "Hold up, sister," she declared. "Who do you think you're fooling, Blake? 'Not interested at all?'" she doubted.

Blake sighed. "Not everything comes to sex, Yang," she deigned to explain. "Just because a man and a women are close and spend late evening hours alone together doesn't mean-"

Yang reached out a hand, stuck it under the sheets of Blake's bed, and pulled a book from her not-so-secret porn stash. Ignoring Blake's horror and frantic head-shaking, Yang simply read the summary.

"Pirates of Porn XXX- Do You Remember Our Love? After stopping the Merciless Mistress, our heroine faces an erotic new threat when Rock-sensei is found alive but in bad company, having forgotten his past. Can Kunoichi Kitty remind him of the bonds they once shared, and tear him away from the claws of the Pussy Cat Pirates?"

Blake looked horrified. Ruby looked betrayed. Yang just looked smug. "Gee, I wonder who that could sound like," asked rhetorically. "'No interest at all', hm?"

Blake's ears flatted. "Maybe just a little interested?" she offered apologetically.

Ruby looked at her without mercy- though her fury was more adorable than intimidating. Gone was the adoration and emulation, though.

"I'm not going to lose to you, Blake," Ruby warned, looking all as determined as an almost-sixteen girl could.

Right. Here she was- getting dragged into a love rivalry with half her team, including a girl two years her younger. Just what she (hadn't) wanted.

At least her missing teammate was above such nonsense, right? This might be the first time she said it, but thank heavens for the serious Schnees.

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Author Note:


	12. Chapter 12

The Fall of Professor Arc

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Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

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"I can't believe a Schnee isn't above such nonsense," Weiss complained over the phone.

"Don't be like that, Weiss," Winter chided from the other side. "I'm just showing concern for a wounded friend."

"You're asking me to spy on a professor!" Weiss corrected. "For some kind of… kind of… love rivalry!"

Winter frowned. "There's no need to be like that, Weiss," she scolded. "For one thing, I hear he's no longer a professor."

Weiss waited for the other shoe to drop. "And the other thing?" she prompted when Winter cheekily refused to go on.

Winter laughed. "For there to be a rivalry, Professor Goodwitch would have to have a chance- with her own student no less," she crowed, still amused by the irony of it all. "No, if you convince Mr. Arc to leave for Atlas, I will take care of the rest and leave her no chance at all."

"Remind me why I looked up to you again?" Weiss wanted to know. "And no, I won't do that," she refused. "Professor Jaune needs to recover. Plus, I'm sure you would be… disappointed at his state now," she said.

"Never mind that for now, then," Winter waved off, though which of the two wasn't clear. "Just keep me informed of his progress and help him recover, alright Weiss dear?" she asked. "Once he's better, I'll find reason to come over and… impress him," she said, turning as if to admire herself in profile.

Something about it just annoyed Weiss. "I doubt that would work, sister," she said. "I have it on good authority that you aren't his type of girl."

Winter's attention fixated on her. "That remains to be seen," Winter claimed. "Just what, dear Weiss, is his type?" So many attributes could be bought, after all…

Weiss affected a cheerful smile. "I believe he said he likes long hair," she claimed, tilting her head just so. "Long enough for ponytails, even," she continued, knowing that her sister could see her own dangling to the bottom of the screen.

"Ponytails?!" Winter was almost horrified. "But that's so… uncouth! Undignified!" she protested.

Weiss 'ahemed,' but Winter didn't apologize, so Weiss simply smiled a bit more. "He says he likes mature girls who can still act young," she explained, before affecting a thought. "Or was it younger girls who could act mature?" she wondered. "Ah, never mind," she dismissed, knowing Winter was hanging on her every word. "I believe I saw Miss Goodwitch buying a hairband in the store recently. Do you think she might be considering letting her hair grow out?" she asked.

"Weiss! Weiss!" Winter called out, trying to demand information.

Weiss looked up, and found the perfect excuse. "Oh, Professor Jaune!" she recognized. "I'm sorry, sister, but I have to go now," she said with another insincere smile, and hung up the scroll call as her sister tried to demand her attention.

"Oh, hi Weiss," Jaune greeted as he approached. "Who was that?"

"Oh, just my sister," she admitted, even as she turned off her scroll as it vibrated with an incoming call. "Just asking about how school was going."

"Did I hear you talking… about me?" Jaune worked up the nerve to say.

"Oh, my sister was just curious, that's all," Weiss dismissed. "How are you doing today, Prof- Jaune?" she corrected herself.

"Oh, I'm doing well," he said. "I was actually on my way to your dorm. Ruby said something about wanting to help me train, and," here he broke off, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I was hoping Yang might be there."

Weiss hid a wince- only too glad that this interest wasn't directed at her. "Are you going to try a horrendous pickup lines again?" she asked, just shy of a demand.

"I've been working on them!" Jaune protested.

"Them?"

Jaune pulled out an actual list and handed it to her. "Er, well, what do you think?"

Weiss took a look, scoffed, and packed it away, not even giving it back to him. "Absolutely horrible," she said with perfect frankness and honesty. "If you had any self-respect, you wouldn't be caught dead with these," she added.

Jaune drooped. Weiss took pity and continued.

"But," she began, "if my dunce of a partner thinks you deserve to be trained, I suppose I could teach you how to go about this flirting in less embarrassing ways…"

Jaune perked up. "You'd do that? For me?" he marveled. "Thanks Weiss! You're the best-"

Of course she was, and modest too, but she interrupted him by holding up a single finger even so. "On one condition," she insisted.

"Huh? Sure," Jaune agreed pre-emptively. "What?"

"Is it true you like girls with long hair?" Weiss asked, not having heard it first-hand. "That you care more about their hair than any other feature?" She could admit, she was curious about how the professor she'd respect viewed her. "What is my hair like?" she asked, wondering what he had thought of her asymmetric ponytail.

Jaune froze, and looked a bit abashed, but nodded. "It's pretty," he said. "Very… nice," he said, trying to find a non-creepy way to put it. "And yes, I think a girl's hair can be her most attractive feature. Pony tails are nice- especially when she lets it loose and lets her hair down." He looked embarrassed to be discussing such. "Do you think Yang would like a hairband as a gift?" he asked, asking for her opinion.

Weiss smiled- more of a smirk. Winter may have inherited enviable assets, but her older sister was not the sort who could 'let her hair down', so to speak. Or would ever grow it out. And Yang almost certainly wouldn't submit to a pony tail of all thing.

At last, one area where Weiss was the more feminine.

"Perhaps one day," Weiss said, "but only after you've brushed up on your women skills," she said.

"How can I do that?" Jaune wanted to know.

"I'll teach you," Weiss offered. "You kept up your end of the bargain, and so I'll keep up mine. Someone needs to teach you refinement and manners worthy of keeping company with a Schnee, after all," she said. Not her sister, necessarily, but a Schnee.

Jaune was excited, as well he should, and fortunately his attentions weren't towards her. This truly was an opportunity to rich to be denied. She could only imagine the look on Winter's face if she knew. It probably wouldn't be that different from what she was about to see closer to home.

"Our first lesson," Weiss decreed, "will be escorting a lady to her room. Shall we return to my room?" she asked formally.

They did- with a bit more bumbling and corrections than she would have liked- but it would be so worth the look on their faces when Ruby and Yang saw her walk in arm-in-arm with Professor Jaune.

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Author Note:

If you've been counting words, you'll know the story's almost over. Sorry about that, except not. This story has pretty much fulfilled it's purpose- and points to you if you can tell what it is.


	13. Chapter 13

The Fall of Professor Arc

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Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

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/

Somehow this is Yang's fault. He's not sure how, he's not sure why the thought crosses his mind. She's definitely there, he's falling (and not in love) from a pillow she's thrown, and somehow he knows he's in trouble. It's hard not to feel that way when Team RWBY's room explodes in protests the moment he and Weiss walk in.

It's Yang's fault. He's definitely doing it for her, so it must be. He's the innocent in all this, he swears.

Whatever the accusations were when the girls were fighting amongst themselves, it's turned into a pillow-fight now. Not the sexiest kind, but one with laughter all around. Weiss's glyphs allow her to give as good as she gets, and now it's down to her and Yang over… something about him and a pillow. His head's still ringing from the fall of the face full of pillow.

"Jaune?"

Beside him, just as 'out', are Blake and Ruby. Ruby's at his side, good girl that she is, helping him sit up. Blake's a friendly presence he already relies on.

"Jaune? Are you alright?" It's Ruby again- though this time she sounds a tinged worried. The room quiets, the pillow fight stops, and eyes turn towards him as Weiss and Yang both freeze in mid-swing.

Jaune simply smiles at the honest concern.

"I'm fine. Just took one to the head- need to sit down for a moment," he says, letting Ruby and Blake lead him to a bed. He doesn't know whose it is. It doesn't even occur to him to wonder.

The pillow fight stops, even as he wishes it hadn't. It was fun.

"Prof? Are you alright?" Yang asks. He wishes she wouldn't call him that- the person he wasn't- but then, if he hadn't been him, he wouldn't be where he is now. In an awesome school surrounded by wonderful people and waking up to find he had amazing friends.

"I'm fine. I love you girls," Jaune said, trying to convey all that. He doesn't mean anything by that- just what he meant about them being amazing and friends and all- but there's some embarrassed flushes none the less. "You're all awesome," he confesses, hoping the addition helps.

There's a moment of silence as they take that in.

"See? I told you hitting him in the head wouldn't help," Blake whispers to Yang.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss began to demand.

"Hey, it was an accident," Yang defends.

Ruby just holds him tighter. He lets himself lean in, just a little. It's hard to believe she's Yang's sister, but right now that doesn't mean what it used to.

"What is going on here?!" A new voice thunders. Four embarrassed but cheerful girls freeze in fear.

But not Jaune. He knows this is a good person.

"Oh, hey Glynda!" he waves from his position in Ruby's embrace. With an 'eep' she drops him straight in her lap. "Just a little fooling around. Want to join in?"

They don't even have time to shoot him dirty, horrified, scandalized, or blushing looks before Glynda steps in and the door shuts. What happens next isn't what crossed their minds, but still mind-blowing enough. Somehow, for some reason, her wrath misses him. From his position, still in Ruby's lap, as good people and honest concern surround him…

There was only one thought in his mind.

 _I totally don't deserve this.  
_

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 _Fin_

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Author Note:

And... there we go.

 _The Fall of Professor Arc_ is a comedy, but also a foundation fic. It's a story mean to set-up subsequent stories- in this case, Jaune's Beacon career. What those stories are- that's up to you. What's the canon pairing? That's up to you. Who's going to write it? That's- well, you get the idea.

This was a gift from me to Coeur over the holidays. You can thank him for his approval and posting this out here. Me? I'll thank him for something else.

Thanks, Coeur- for the ideas, the feedback I don't always appreciate, but most of all the friendship. You've taken a minor hobby and made it funner.

(Yes, it's a word. Deal.)

Cheers,

C.F.


	14. True End

The Fall of Professor Arc

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/

Disclaimer and Dedication:

Dedicated to Coeur. Thanks for the stories, and the countless ideas. You've only yourself to blame, you know!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. 'Professor Arc' in particular is the brainchild of Coeur. If you haven't read it already... why are you here?

/

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/

"Well lad, it looks like it's about time for you to meet a special someone!"

Jaune jolted awake. The booming voice was his only warnings before he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Professor Port! I'm awake, I swear!" Jaune lied, jumping up. The classroom was empty, and had been from the start- no way he could lie his way out during a private tutoring position.

Professor Port gave him a stink eye. "I doubt that you'd remember how many times I've told you to call me Peter!"

Jaune nervously laughed. "Right… Peter," he managed, uncomfortable at the informality with the faculty. "Sorry," he apologized. "I just-" he was unable to hide a yawn at how boring the man's teaching was. "I just was up late last night. Studying." It wasn't a total lie.

Instead of scold him, Peter laughed. "No doubt," the bigger man believed. "I'm sure my own tales of adventure pale to your own forgotten ones as well, so I could hardly blame you given how tired you are," he reasoned. Peter's eyes took a shifty glance, though, and Jaune felt a hint of trepidation. "But say, lad… what if I knew someone who could help with that?"

Jaune blinked. "Help?" Help was always good. "What do you have in mind?" Hopefully not some concussive shock treatment. Too many people seemed interested in the latest medical fad these days…

Peter laughed. "Not what, _who,"_ he clarified. "Like I said, a special someone you've yet to meet since your accident. Someone I'm sure you miss even without realizing."

That made Jaune curious. He thought he'd already met everyone he'd known Before. He didn't feel he missing in his life right now, at least. Sure, he'd like a girlfriend right now, but give him a few years…

Still, it was the perfect excuse to escape this private and incredibly boring lecture of Peter's boastful exploits. Jaune stood up.

"Lead the way, Peter," he encouraged.

Professor Port did, and Jaune followed him down halls that were once again starting to be familiar. Here was the great hall, there were the locker rooms, this was the dining hall… what were they doing in the dining hall?

Peter led Jaune to the lunch counter. He didn't say anything- just gestured Jaune to step up, and watched expectantly.

Jaune blinked. The server in a smock blinked back. Jaune turned back to Peter.

"You brought me here to see the lunch lady?" he asked, at a loss.

"I'm a guy," the server growled.

"Sorry, I forgot," Jaune claimed.

"That's not an excuse, you-"

Peter guffawed, and ignored the offense. "Lad just woke up," he explained, apologizing for Jaune. "Give him a cup of the special stuff, to wake him up," he said, giving a big wink.

The server looked back skeptically, and so Peter winked again, and again, and again.

"Peter, why are you winking?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, no reason," Peter claimed. "Just something in my eye," he continued, digging in with a finger as he gave another great wink, and using the finger to point at Jaune and back and wink once more.

The server finally seemed to get it, and started moving. A well-worn coffee pot was lifted off a burner, poured, and a mug handed to him.

"Don't see how you could forget this, mate, but try not to spread it around, will you?"

Jaune took the offered mug with a confused expression, but Peter's eager encouragement made clear he was supposed to try. Jaune began to lift the mug to his lips.

"You might want to be sitting down for this, lad," Peter realized, stopping Jaune at the last second. Jaune looked at him, skeptical. Sure, the coffee was probably hot, but he doubted it'd be _that_ hot.

Jaune shrugged, ignored Peter's advice, and took a sip.

Bliss exploded in his mouth, as all his senses went haywire. A lover's caress, a mistress's touch, utter exaltation and discipline that demanded release. From a gem deep in Remnant he rose, rocketing to the surface and the Kingdoms. He rose at the same moment he saw himself falling to the ground, but kept rising through the sky and past Amity itself as he made his way to heaven. This was sublime. This was _divine_. This was truth, the one and inescapable fact that only death could end. Higher and faster, at a tempo matched only by his beating heart.

This was love. Gasping, orgasmic love.

"Ohhh," Jaune moaned, even as the mug nearly slipped from his fingers.

The mug would have shattered, its precious contents spilled, but Jaune couldn't care. Nothing could make him care right now. He was so enlightened that if his Sunflower punched him, he'd go soaring over the moon. He was so satisfied that he could retire to be a hermit and swear a vow of chastity, even if half the world cried out in despair.

"Peter," Jaune began, "I remember now."

"Remember what?" Peter asked, enthralled.

"Everything," the young man claimed. "Everything that ever mattered."

"Does that mean-" Peter began, excited.

Was this it? Was this the miracle they'd been looking for? The secret for the return of Professor Arc?

Maybe. Maybe not. But that wasn't important. Only one person mattered here in the here and now.

"As if I could forget you, Coffee-chan," Jaune cooed, cradling the mug tenderly against his cheek.

/

 _Fin_

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Author Note:

The secret ending and one true pairing. Coeur got to enjoy it a bit before you because, hey. We've got to amuse ourselves somehow.

If you like Coffee-chan, vote for it in Coeur's poll-thing. I have it on good authority (Coeur) that he thinks Coffee-chan deserves some love.

Coffee-chan 2016. The One True Pairing of Professor Arc.


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